While fishing from a boat, a fishing rod when not hand held while fishing is at selected times inserted into a one position rod holder to free the fisherman for other activities such as maneuvering the boat. Generally clear working space is at a premium in a small boat, so the location of the rod holder poses a problem. If it is mounted outside the boat, both to clear the interior of obstructions and to extend the fishing line outwardly to minimize line fouling, then insertion and retrieval of the fishing rod becomes difficult, often being done by leaning out over the side of the boat and thereby also increasing the danger of dropping the fishing rod overboard. If on the other hand the rod holder is mounted far enough in relative to the side of the boat, so insertion and retrieval and reel adjustment are readily accomplished, then valuable inboard operating space is wasted, and also the extended trolling fishing lines are more prone to entanglement.
In contrast, this fishing rod extender is easily operated to be pulled inwardly, toward the center line of the boat, where the fishing rod is safely inserted and the reel adjusted, and then pushed outwardly to an extended position during fishing. Also when maneuvering the boat in a congested situation among other boats, additional clearance between lines of boats is quickly obtained, without removing the fishing rods, but only by moving the rod holder to its retracted position nearer the center line of the boat.
In the past adjustable fishing rod holders have been provided, such as those illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,502,684; 3,311,332 and 3,601,919 which adjustably position a fishing rod relative to the centerline of the boat. However, these prior art fishing rod holders have not utilized the advantages of a parallelogram linkage or composite frame with the two stable end positions of full retraction and extension.